The birth and journey to Grey Matters Now. This is the story of the birth of Grey Matters Now and the journey that shaped who I am today and my evolving life purpose and mission.

About Katy:

Katy Bray is the Owner and Founder of Lead With The Lights On. I met Katy at a certification class I was attending. She was a speaker and I was immediately drawn to her energy and her work. I felt like she was speaking just to me – ha! I looked her up, we connected, and she became my endeavor birth doula. She is a genius and believes integrating the various aspects of leadership such as self, team, and higher purpose is key to the success of our emerging leaders. She is also an amazing, intuitive and genuinely kind human! She and her husband and business partner Zebulon have been above and beyond comprehensively supportive and resourceful both professionally and personally.

About Me – a two part episode

I am a Social Worker by title that’s been working in social services at some capacity for almost 30 years. Over those 30 years I have worked in a variety of diverse fields and demographics. I have had the honor of working with people at both ends of life’s spectrum from reproductive health, to ropes courses, to hospice and so much in between.

It is my personal journey as much as my professional one that has shaped who I am and my life’s mission.

In this episode, I share my personal story. I open up and let myself be completely vulnerable. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal as I have told my story over and over too many times to count in the last 40 years. In my mind, this was going to be the most simple and natural episode to record as my intention was to introduce an amazing woman, Katy Bray, who helped me synergize my ideas into one living endeavor and tell my personal story that led me to the place I am in now. Piece of cake right? Not exactly…

This specific project or episode, became this unique and unconventional experience, as do most things in my life. I have to say though, this passage I went through was unexpected and caught me completely off guard and unsure about how to process it at first. It sent me down some unfamiliar winding uncharted roads I had to figure out how to navigate. It took some exploring as it turned into visceral surfacing of emotions and then I actually had memories come back to me that have NEVER surfaced before. So – in the spirit of walking the walk and being way out of my comfort zone with an intention of sharing to universalize this experience, I processed these feelings live on this podcast.

I had a big lesson in overcoming fear – don’t let the fear of your past keep you from moving forward. This was not easy for me – as a matter of fact, it has taken me forever to create this episode (3 separate recordings!!!). My hopes are that me sharing may help someone else go to that place of processing and healing. I certainly did not expect this experience to turn into Ms. Anne’s wild ride but it did and I buckled up and rode it. Moving forward I hope that this takes you in the direction that best serves you.. fasten your seat belts, let’s go!

Resources

To find grief support contact any hospice in your area. Resources can be found through:

Not just for the immediately suicidal, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Is a national network of local crisis centers that provide free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.